Original Archives - Page 79 of 92

Science Fiction

Ona watched her Teacher turn around. The helmetless Ms. Coron wore a dress that exposed the skin of her arms and legs in a way that she had taught the children was beautiful and natural. Intellectually, Ona understood that the frigid air in the classroom, cold enough to give her and the other children hypothermia even with brief exposure, was perfectly suited to the Teachers. But she couldn’t help shivering at the sight. The airtight heat-suit scraped over Ona’s scales, and the rustling noise reverberated loudly in her helmet.

In Oct. 2013 (Issue 41)

Fantasy

The Master Conjurer

by Charlie Jane Anders

Author spotlight

Peter did a magic spell, and it worked fine. With no unintended consequences, and no weird side effects. Two days later, he was on the front page of the local newspaper: “The Miracle Conjurer.” Some blogs picked it up, and soon enough he was getting visits from CNN and MSNBC, and his local NPR station kept wanting to put him on. News crews were standing and talking in front of his house.

In Oct. 2013 (Issue 41)

Fantasy

The Five Deaths of Marvin Dimitri

by Dylan Otto Krider

Author spotlight

I first met Marvin several years ago, but you don’t have to know Marvin to know his story. That’s the sort of thing that’s just understood, that comes from living in Beaumont, Texas, where Marvin lived most all of his lives.

In Oct. 2013 (Issue 41)

Science Fiction

HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!!

by Keffy R. M. Kehrli

Author spotlight

As late as ten years ago, a mad scientist with a dream could expect to turn a decent profit with his lesser inventions and build enough capital to put his (or her!) real plans into play. Those days are sadly over, although my father, fool that he was, claimed that they never existed.

In Oct. 2013 (Issue 41)

Science Fiction

Dry Bite

by Will McIntosh

Author spotlight

Josephine had been up all night, her heart pounding, thinking about this day, about whether she would survive it. Now, out on the road and exposed on all sides, she was so scared she could barely breathe.

Illustrated by Galen Dara

In Sep. 2013 (Issue 40)

Fantasy

Bellweather

by Marc Laidlaw

Author spotlight

They had struggled for days through a wasteland of broken rock, high in the mountains, on their way through a pass that maps had indicated would take them to a country of promise. The first of the rocks were chipped and quarried, and showed signs of having been worked by artisans as much as by nature. But after a time, the unfashioned stone gave way to broken figures. The general impression was that a nation of statues, its entire populace, had been carried to the heavens and then dropped, so that all were shattered. Fractured heads and torsos, truncated limbs, toes and fingers of every size, from gnomic to gigantic, lay strewn from peak to peak, as if spread across the high mountain valleys by glacial action.

In Sep. 2013 (Issue 40)

Fantasy

Homecoming

by Seanan McGuire

Author spotlight

The locker room is always tense before a game. Alisa is trying to get her uniform to stay in place, counting more on safety pins and prayer than she probably should, and Birdie—true to her name—keeps whistling, which is probably going to get her slapped if she doesn’t stop soon. Cram twenty girls from opposing squads into one small space and tensions are going to flare.

In Sep. 2013 (Issue 40)

Science Fiction

The Schrödinger War

by D. Thomas Minton

Author spotlight

You’d think after seven tries, I could get the living part right, or at least be a pro at dying, but both are still messy and painful. At least dying doesn’t scare me anymore. I yank Olshevski back into our wrinkle of black basalt before the Eatees mist his head.

Illustrated by Galen Dara

In Sep. 2013 (Issue 40)

Science Fiction

Face Value

by Sean Williams

Author spotlight

News of the disappearance of inventor Felix Frey spread through the Air with electric ease. It was exactly the kind of distraction I needed. There are only so many quaint old thefts and counterfeit scams I can pluck from policing archives while my girlfriend Billie works in her studio, adjusting facial nerves, muscles, and skin cells to fit her clients’ desires.

In Aug. 2013 (Issue 39)

Fantasy

Breathless in the Deep

by Cory Skerry

Author spotlight

When Jantz spotted a black skeleton jutting up above the water, at first she thought it was just a tide-battered tree, but before long she could make out the shredded ropes and scraps of sail. The wooden bones were the charred yardarms of a sunken ship.

Illustrated by Galen Dara